Zverev makes Djokovic’s ATP end-of-year party bitter

Alexander Zverev again endorsed Novak Djokovic a painful defeat, this time at the ATP Finals, the Masters Cup that the Serbian has been choking on since he won it for the fifth time in 2015. The German, who a few months ago in Tokyo left the world number one without the possibility of finally taking the Olympic gold, He beat him in another semifinal of a posh contest (7-6 (4), 4-6 and 6-4 in 2h28) and will play this Sunday (17:00, #Vamos) the game for the title against Daniil Medvedev, current champion, who got rid of the Norwegian Casper Ruud (6-4 and 6-2) without problems and is on a nine-match winning streak in the tournament.

“I have not spent more time on the court this year with anyone and every time I have to play at a high level. This has not been an exception ”, said the winner, who had met Djokovic four times already in 2021 and lost three. Zverev, a tennis player whose play shines especially brightly on hard court and indoors (under those conditions he has already won six titles), He aspires to get his second trophy at the Masters, after the one he raised in 2018 precisely against Djokovic, whom he has beaten four times in 11 matches.

Nole arrived grown after beating Medvedev in the Paris-Bercy final and he looked confident and happy, but he ran into one of the opponents who, from time to time, knows how to disturb him and that the ATP end-of-year party made him bitter, because he still has one ITF competition, the Davis Cup. Not surprisingly, Sascha is the best of the year in victories with 58, the same that the Russian accumulates, his next opponent. Nole says goodbye to 2021 with three Grand Slam titles, a Masters 1,000 and a 250 … and the US Open final. He also does it on the throne. Not bad.

In the first set the level of tennis was very high. Djokovic lost it due to small details, including his second serve (with first he only lost two goals), which Zverev attacked well, and reliability in long exchanges, a specialty of the house in which the Teuton shone on many occasions above the master. But above all, because he did not take advantage of the opportunity to close the set by having a point to be able to do it to the rest with 5-4 in favor. Then he lifted two break points and the tiebreaker became inevitable. There the service to the Balkan failed and his rival embroidered him.

Unsuccessful reaction

For a few moments, Djokovic appeared out of the game. He made some big mistake and he didn’t look comfortable even with the ball boys. But he held on, endured Zverev’s downpour of serves, trailing behind on the scoreboard and converted his third break point at just the right time. Later, suffering, he hit his fifth set ball and lengthened the match.

Zverev did not accuse the blow, because he was still at a great height, fast, sharp and with a fantastic behavior to the rest, adapted to the swing that the leader of the ranking proposed to him, who tried to lead him down the street of bitterness with his dictatorial setback. But one of them went out on the baseline and he suddenly found himself with a break against him. Sascha had to keep his powerful duty shifts. Something easy to say, but difficult to execute against a legendary and enraged champion. It achieved this with a remarkable capacity for resistance to pressure. He knew how to suffer and save strength to continue firing cannon shots.

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